ActivistsNew Delhi, Dec 7 (PTI) A Delhi-centric approach isinadequate to rid the city of air pollution, a group ofactivists today said and called for collective action forstrict implementation of emission norms.
Participating in a panel discussion on pollution, theyexpressed concerns over emission of sulphur dioxide (SO2) andnitrogen dioxide (NO2) and rued the "absence" of any mechanismto punish the polluting units.
"Delhi-centric approach is not going to help because youneed to clean the air in surrounding areas as the city cannotbe an island," Ritwick Dutta representing Legal Initiative forForest and Environment said.
Referring to a study conducted by IIT Kanpur, GreenpeaceIndia representative Nandikesh Sivalingam said the report heldemissions of power plants of 18,000 MW capacity within 300 kmof Delhi responsible for air polluting in the city.
The activists also cited RTI replies by 17 thermal powerplants across the country to highlight lack of adequatemeasures to check SO2 and NO2 emissions.
"Even as the deadline for implementing new emissionstandards for thermal power plants notified by the EnvironmentMinistry has ended, none of the 17 plants had provided forFlue Gas Desulphurisation to check SO2 emission and modifyburner designs for low emissions of nitrogen oxide,"Sivalingam said.
New emission norms for thermal power plants concerningparticulate matter, SO2, oxides of nitrogen, mercury and waterconsumption, notified on December 7, 2015, have come intoforce from today.
"There is no mechanism to punish the violators who floutemission norms. The polluting units seem to have been given along rope and and as far as implementation of steps to curbemissions are concerned, the agencies seem to be ready to waittill the end," Dutta said.
Indian Medical Association (IMA) president K K Agarwalexplained the harmful effects of particulate matter on healthand called for a "public movement" to deal with the situation.
"IMA has asked its members for a nationwide campaignagainst air pollution," he said. PTI VITNSD.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.